Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-15
LINCOLN'S TENDER CONSCIENCE.
A Branch Of Legal Practice which He
NrYSr Tried to LeArc.An Incident.

Never Tried to Learr-An Incident.
Although Mr. Lincoln was my senior
by eighteen years, in one important par
ticular, | certainly was, in a marvellous
degree his acknowledged superior. One
of the first things | learned, after getting
fairly under way as lawyer, was To
charge well for legal services-a branch
of the practice that Mr.. Lincoln never
could learn. In fact. the lawyers OF the
circuit often complained that his fees
were NOT at all commensurate with the
service rendered He nj length left that
branch Of the business wholly TO me; and
TO my tender mercy clients were turned
over To be slaughtered according TO my
popular and more advanced ideas Of the
dignity of our profession. This soon led
TO serious and shocking embarrassment
Early in Our practice gentleman
named Scott placed in my hands a case OF
some Importance. He had demented
sister who possessed property to the
amount Of $lO.pD mostly in cash. A
conservarOr, rs he was called. had been
appointed 10 take charge of the estate,
and we were employed TO resist a motion
To remove the conservator. A designing
adventurer had become acquainted with
the girl, knowing that she had money,
and sought to marry her-hence the mo-
tion. Scott, the brother and cOnservator.
before We entered upon the case, insisted
that should fix the amount of the fee. I
told him that it would be $3.50. adding.
however, that he had better wait; it might
not give us much trouble, and in that
event a lesser amount would do. He
agreed at once to pay $3.50 as he expected
n hard contest over the motion. The case
was tried inside of twenty minutes Our
success was complete. Scott was satisfied.
and cheerfully paid over the money inside
the bar, Mr.. Lincoln looking on. Scott
then went out and Mr.. Lincoln asked:
What did YOU charge that n.an:n told
him $3.50
Said he: 'tLamon, that is all wrong.
The service was not worth that sum;
give him back at least half Of it, -
protested that the fee was fixed in ad
vance: that Scott was perfectly satisfied,
and had so expressed himself.
That may be," retorted Lincoln. with
a look of distress and Of undissuised dis
pleasure: but l am not satisfied. This
is positively wrong. Go. call him back
and return half the money a, least, or l
will not receive one cent Of it for my
share"
did go, and Scott was astonished when
handed back half the fec This conver-
sation had attracted the attention Of the
lawyers and the court. Judge David
Davis. then on our circuit bench. called
Mr.. Lincoln TO him. The judge never
could whisper. but in this instance he
probably did his best At all events, in
attempting TO whisper to Mr.. Lincoln he
t-,tu .t..l ,,, 10,
worus. and in raspiug tones that could he
heard all over the court room: Lincoln,
| have been watching You and I.amOn.
You are impoverishing this bar by your
picayune charges Of fees, and the lawyers
have reason to complain of you. You are
now almost as poor as Lazarus, and if
you don't make people pay You more for
your services you will die as poor as Jobs
turkey"
Judge o. L. Davis, the leading lawyer
in that part Of the state, promptly sp-
plauded this malediction from the bench,
but Mr. Lincoln was immovable. That
money" said he, comes out of the pocket
of a poor demented girl, and l would
rather starye than TO swindle her in this
manner.
That evening the lawyers got together
and tried Mr.. Lincoln before a moot tri-
bunal called The Ogmathorial Court"
He was found guilty and fined for his
awful crime against the pockets Of his
brethren of the bar The fine he paid with
great good humor. and then he kept the
crowd of lawyers in uproarious laughter
until after midnight He persisted in his
revolt, however, declaring that with his
consent his firm should never during its